English to attend World Economic Forum

Finance Minister Bill English will
attend the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos,
Switzerland next week.

It is the first time Mr English has
attended the Forum annual meeting, which attracts around
3,000 political, business and economic leaders from around
the world.

“The Forum will provide me with an
opportunity to better understand the global risks to New
Zealand’s positive economic outlook,” he says. “It
will also provide me with a clearer understanding of how the
people and markets we trade with are thinking about our
common challenges.

“I’m particularly interested in
discussions about returning to what many call ‘natural
growth’, as economies exit from large monetary and fiscal
stimulus programmes.

“The unwinding of these stimulus
programmes by large economies will certainly have an impact
on small open economies like New Zealand’s.”

Mr
English leaves for Switzerland on 20 January and returns
to New Zealand on 27
January.

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